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Test Execution Specialist Guide
This guide describes tasks that you can perform on schedules, test execution with custom code, and Extending Rational® Performance Tester to support other protocols. This guide is intended for testers or test execution specialists.
Extending Rational® Performance Tester to support other protocols
The Rational® Performance Tester Extensibility Software Development Kit (SDK) enables you to create extensions to support testing new protocols without modifying the core product code. You can create an extension that provides functionality for testing other protocols in addition to the HTTP protocol support that is standard in Rational Performance Tester.
Extending the load test behavior model
The load test behavior model (LTBM) is a model of the behavior of a performance test in Rational® Performance Tester.
Public APIs for LTBM
The load test behavior model (LTBM) contains multiple packages. Each package contains the interfaces that define the LTBM. In addition, each package has a corresponding implementation package that contains the implementation classes for these interfaces.

Test Execution Specialist Guide
This guide describes tasks that you can perform on schedules, test execution with custom code, and Extending Rational® Performance Tester to support other protocols. This guide is intended for testers or test execution specialists.
- Running schedules with performance testing
  After you have added the user groups, tests, and other items to a schedule, and you are satisfied that it represents a realistic workload, you run the schedule.
- Extending test execution with custom code
  You can extend how you run your tests by writing custom Java™ code and calling the code from the test. You can also specify that results from the tests that are affected by your custom code be included in reports.
- Extending Rational® Performance Tester to support other protocols
  The Rational® Performance Tester Extensibility Software Development Kit (SDK) enables you to create extensions to support testing new protocols without modifying the core product code. You can create an extension that provides functionality for testing other protocols in addition to the HTTP protocol support that is standard in Rational Performance Tester.
  - Protocol extension structure
    Before organizing your extension, note the restrictions and guidelines provided in this topic.
  - Extending the test recorder
    To generate a test, the data exchanged by an application and another entity such as a server must be recorded. The recorded data is then processed to generate a test.
  - Extending the test generation framework
    Test generation consists of processing the recorded data and producing a test.
  - Contributing annotations
    An annotation is an action that a user performs during a recording session. Annotations are used to document or structure the test generated from the recording.
  - Extending the load test behavior model
    The load test behavior model (LTBM) is a model of the behavior of a performance test in Rational® Performance Tester.
    - Updates to the load test behavior model
      There are new features in the model and there are changes to the following two plug-ins, which the protocol behavior model plug-in depends on.
    - Extension points for LTBM
      You must register your protocol model elements with the load test behavior model (LTBM) core through extension points regardless of the way that you chose to model your protocol.
    - Creating protocol constructs
      The first step in creating protocol constructs is to identify the behavior of the protocol, how the ends, client and server, communicate through this protocol, or if there is an order in which things happen.
    - Extending the classes in LTBM
      You can create a new Load Test Behavior Model (LTBM) element.
    - Public APIs for LTBM
      The load test behavior model (LTBM) contains multiple packages. Each package contains the interfaces that define the LTBM. In addition, each package has a corresponding implementation package that contains the implementation classes for these interfaces.
      - com.ibm.rational.test.lt.models.behavior.lttest package
        This package holds the interfaces related to the performance test object and its attributes.
      - com.ibm.rational.test.lt.models.behavior.common package
        This package contains common interfaces that the extending model elements can implement to add these features to them.
      - com.ibm.rational.test.lt.models.behavior.data package
        This package contains classes related to data correlation and custom code.
      - com.ibm.rational.test.lt.models.behavior.vps package
        This package provides classes related to verification points.
  - Extending data correlation
    Data correlation is the process of extracting data that is returned from a server, and then sending it back to the server in a subsequent request.
  - Extending the test editor
    The performance testing software provides application programming interface (API) classes for extending the test and performance tools platform (TPTP) to write new editors and protocol extensions.
  - Contributing error handlers
    An error handler is associated with an error condition. Error handlers specify the action to take when a specified error condition occurs. Error handlers are provided for conditions such as verification-point failures, connection failures, server timeouts, and data-correlation problems. You can add new types of errors and error handlers.
  - Extending the schedule component
    When you extend the schedule component in performance testing, another plug-in can contribute options to a schedule. Those options can be set up to persist in the schedule model, and a corresponding user interface can be displayed for editing the new options.
  - Extending code generation
    The code generation subsystem maps Load Test Behavior Model (LTBM) elements to objects of the code generation element model (IModelElement), which in turn are mapped to objects of its ILanguageElement class. As a result, a language element tree is created that contains all equivalent elements of the behavior model test element tree and at the same time determines the structure of code to be generated.
  - Extending the run-time environment
    The run-time environment defines the plug-ins on which all other plug-ins depend. The run-time environment is responsible for defining a structure for plug-ins and the implementation detail behind them.
  - Extending the test log viewer
    After running a test, the test results are saved in a test log. Use the Test Log viewer to check the results for specific events, such as the script start and end, loop, invocation, message, or verdict.
  - Extending evaluation results
    Reports are a specification of how performance test data should be extracted from the statistical model and presented to the user.

Public APIs for LTBM

The load test behavior model (LTBM) contains multiple packages. Each package contains the interfaces that define the LTBM. In addition, each package has a corresponding implementation package that contains the implementation classes for these interfaces.

The extensions will either use or extend the implemented classes from LTBM while having access only to the methods defined in the corresponding interfaces. The following packages are part of LTBM:

com.ibm.rational.test.lt.models.behavior.lttest
com.ibm.rational.test.lt.models.behavior.common
com.ibm.rational.test.lt.models.behavior.data
com.ibm.rational.test.lt.models.behavior.vps.impl

The implementation classes are contained in the corresponding implementation packages, such as com.ibm.rational.test.lt.models.behavior.lttest.impl, com.ibm.rational.test.lt.models.behavior.common.impl, com.ibm.rational.test.lt.models.behavior.data.impl and com.ibm.rational.test.lt.models.behavior.vps.impl.

Each of these packages also contains factory classes that enable you to create a model element from that package. For best results, use the factory classes to create model elements. For example, to create a loop, use this method:

LTTestFactory.eINSTANCE.createCBLoop()

The LTBM provides common constructs that can be reused by protocol extensions. These constructs are included in various packages in the LTBM. The Javadoc information explains each available interface in more detail.

The Javadoc for the test execution services interfaces and classes can be accessed from the product by clicking Help > Help Contents > IBM Rational Performance Tester API Reference.